April 8, 2010
Kentucky Lake: Water Level at Ky Dam - 357.76 Surface Temperature - 61
Lake Barkley: Water Level at Barkley Dam - 357.85 Surface Temperature - 63
Both lakes are a little over one foot below summer pool and on a slow draw down. The TVA started dropping the unseasonably high waters we had last week to get the lakes back to their normal water levels. The lakes have been dropping about 4-6 inches a day and are forecasted to continue dropping over the next few days. I would expect that unless we get a big influx of water from up river, they should level the lakes around the 357 mark and then start a slow rise again toward summer pool which we normally see around the end of the month. We had some very warm weather and high south winds earlier this week with a frontal passage last night. The warm days and high south winds warmed up the lakes considerably and finally our water temperatures are where they should be for this time of year. The frontal passage last night cooled the weather somewhat today and we had some north winds but we will begin another warming trend tomorrow and this trend is forecasted to continue through the weekend and into next week. The forecast for the weekend shows highs around the mid 70's with night time lows in the 40's and plenty of sunshine. It should be a beautiful weekend and the extended forecast for next week is pretty much the same. Everything is coming together for what should be a very good Largemouth bite over the weekend and into next week. The majority of the Largemouth are staging on secondary points and creek channel banks to move in shallow for late prespawn feeding and to begin spawning. We do have some Largemouth on the beds already but these are the early very large fish that bed early each year around the first week of April. The larger numbers of female Largemouth have yet to move into the shallows for spawning but the buck bass are showing up there. It won't be long before the females join them for late prespawn feeding and spawning. The majority spawn normally lasts about 3 weeks. Most of the Smallmouth have started bedding now. The White Crappie are staging now for spawn and there are still some Black Crappie to spawn as some of them pulled back into deeper waters with the drawdown. Expect to see the Crappie start spawning in big numbers this next week. Right now most of the Crappie are being taken over brush piles in 8-12 ft of water off spawning banks. Some very nice Crappie are being taken but it is going to get even better with more numbers very soon.
Largemouth Bass: Largemouth Bass are being taken on secondary points and creek channel banks in the creeks and bays. These fish are staging to move shallow and are being taken on crankbaits, Carolina and Texas rigged lizards and creature baits, shaky heads and jigs. Largemouth are also being taken in shallow water on the flats in the coves and the backs of the creeks and bays. Most of these fish are smaller buck bass right now but there is a lot of action on Texas rigged lizards and creature baits, spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits and shaky heads. There has been some topwater action early in the morning. More larger late prespawn fish should start showing up shallow soon as the females move up to feed and spawn. I personally expect more of the larger females to start moving in shallow sometime next week.
Smallmouth Bass: Smallmouth Bass are being taken on gravel banks in the front halves of the creeks and bays and in some of the main lake cuts with gravel bottoms. These fish are starting to bed and can be taken on crankbaits, jigs, tube jigs and skaky heads. Typically, you will not see the beds on these lakes because the majority of the Smallmouth bed about 9-12 ft deep here but you will know it if you get close to a bed, because unlike the female Largemouth, the female Smallmouth is very aggressive and will hit anything that gets near her nest.
Some of the productive lures reported this past week have been: Chatterbuzz buzzbaits in white and white/chartreuse, Hook Some Bass and Slong's spinnerbaits in blue glimmer and white, Bandit crankbaits in rootbeer/chartreuse, Spro little john crankbaits in spring craw, Strike King crankbaits in sexy shad, Strike King red eye shad lipless crankbaits in gold/chrome sexy shad, red craw and sexy shad, Zoom trick worms and Charmer shaky head worms in green pumpkin and watermelon/purple fished on D&L shaky head jigs, Zoom lizards in green pumpkin, watermelon seed and watermelon/purple, Charmer timber pups in green pumpkin and watermelon/purple, Hook Some Bass tubes in green pumpkin and chameleon craw, D&L baby advantage jigs in "oops" and Last Cast hairy bug jigs in green pumpkin (both fished with Net Baits paca chunk trailers in green pumpkin).
Crappie: Crappie are being taken over brush piles in 8-12 ft of water off spawning banks by spider rigging small tube jigs and minnows as well as casting curly tail jigs and small road runner lures. Some Crappie are being taken early and late in the day on the adjacent banks in 4-6 ft of water by casting road runners and curly tail jigs as well as fishing minnows and tube jigs under bobbers on a slow retrieve. This shallow water bite should get better this next week as Crappie start moving in to spawn. The early morning and late evening bite should really turn on good.
Bluegill/Red Ear: Some Bluegill and Red Ears are being taken back shallow on gravel flats by fishing with split shot rigs baited with worms. The numbers are not good yet back shallow as most of these fish are still out on deeper points and banks but expect this bite to start picking up in the next couple of weeks as more fish move shallow.
FLASH: The Cabin Bait and Tackle has now moved into their new bigger store located on U.S. 62 in Kuttawa. They accomplished this move over the past couple of days and the doors are going to open for business tomorrow. The Cabin is undoubtedly the finest shop in the area for all your bass fishing and pan fishing needs. You will find the folks there not only friendly and courteous but knowledgeable anglers that will assist you finding that right rod, reel and lure you need to catch the fish here on our great lakes. I recommend that you stop by the new store and check it out. It is much larger than the old store and there is plenty of parking. Congratulations to my good friends at the Cabin, they have worked very hard over the past few years to build a great reputation for serving the anglers here and they deserve this new big store to be able to better serve their customers.
If you are in need of a bass guide for some fun catch and release bass fishing, tournament preparation, lake familiarization or technique instruction, don't hesitate to drop me an email or give me a call to book one of my open dates. I have the following dates available for booking in April, May, June and July:
April: Sorry I am booked up.
May: 11th
June: 8, 9, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30
July: Plenty of dates available, contact me to book your trip
We are only about 6 weeks away from the beginning of the ledge fishing season which lasts from late May thru the end of September. Now is the time to book that summer trip to learn how to find and fish the ledges. I offer a focused teaching trip on how to fish the ledges. This trip consists of a class on how to eliminate the water on your topo map before you leave home so that you can concentrate your time on only the highest percentage ledges while on the water as well as some time on the water to learn how to use your electronics on the ledges, set up on the ledges and learn the techniques used to fish the ledges. This teaching trip has been very popular over the past few years since I started offering it as it will teach you how to go out and find and fish those ledges on your own. To book one of these trips, all you have to do is give me a call or drop me an email to book one of my open dates.
Remember, I am a bass guide. I only guide for bass and we are a catch and release service. I firmly believe it is not only my job to put you on bass, but to teach you why the bass are there and how to catch them so you can go out the next day or in the future on your own and catch them. If you want a panfish guide, I would be happy to make a referral for you, I know the best panfish guides on the lakes and will be happy to refer you to them. If you want to bass fish, book with a bass guide that spends 100% of his time fishing for bass. See how many other guides you can find here that guide for bass and bass only every day other than me, then give me a call.
Captain Dave Stewart
Bass Buster Guide Service
270-354-5039
dave@kentuckylakeguide.com
www.kentuckylakeguide.com
"Fish With a Professional"
Bass Buster Guide Service
270-354-5039
dave@kentuckylakeguide.com
www.kentuckylakeguide.com
"Fish With a Professional"











